Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just adjust them to fit my stories. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: So, a new/old character comes into this chapter. I hope you like it. As always, I'm sending love to my FFWifey, LustingAfterRob, I love you Ana Banana! And also to my lovely, wonderful, Alex-loving ~wink~ beta, Mariza(2fantabulush) for putting up with me! So, onto the chapter.
Chapter 7- Old Friends
Emmett
I was sitting in English class thinking back over what A.J. had told me in the jeep. I was furious, absolutely furious, I had to find a way to make sure this Zac guy pays for what he did to my beauty. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to my friend, Darren, "Hey man, do me a favor & look in2 something 4 me?" I held onto my phone, waiting for a reply, one came about a minute later, "Yeah, dude, what is it?" I quickly tapped out a reply, "Find a guy named, Zachary David Filman. He should be in prison in Phoenix." "Will do, buddy, I'll let you know what I find in a day or two." "Works 4 me."
I put my phone back in my pocket and tried to pay attention. But how could I when my beauty was sitting next to me, "A.J. are you okay?" She looked at me, a sad look in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, turning away, facing the front of the class again. She seemed distant, especially after telling me about her past. I felt my phone buzz, "EMMETT MCCARTY CULLEN! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" "Wat r u talkin bout Ali?" "A.J. has changed her mind about coming over today. Now she's going home with Bella. Now, what the fuck did you do?" "I didn't do anything, Ali, she told me wat that bastard Zac did 2 her." "Well, now she's not coming over," she replied, then a few seconds later she sent, "And don't think about asking her why when she tells you at the end of class." "I won't. Promise." I stuck my phone back in my pocket and sat in and waited on class to end.
When the bell rang, I stood up, waiting on A.J. "You ready for Trig"? I asked. "Yeah, I guess," she said, dragging her feet, walking down the hall. "Hey, Em?" "What?" I asked, dreading what she was going to say. "I'm not gonna come over today, I don't feel good. I'm sorry. Tell Alice I'm sorry. I'll come over tomorrow. I'm going home. Bye." She patted my arm and took off towards the doors. I walked to Trig alone and feeling dejected. Out of nowhere the little pixie appeared at my elbow. "She'll be there tomorrow. Don't walk around like a lost puppy, it's not becoming of you Emmy." "Alice, shut up." I said, stalking off.
I spent the rest of the day, moping around, thinking back on A.J.'s story, wishing I hadn't pushed her into giving me some of her secrets. When school was over I ran by the Swan house, to see if A.J. was home so I could apologize. Bella's truck was there, I listened and there was only one heartbeat in there and it wasn't A.J. I went back to my house, wondering where A.J. went when she left school early.
A.J.
As soon as I walked off of the campus I called Paul, "Hello?" he answered on the third ring. "Paul?" I asked, tears threatening to break over. "A.J.? Is that you?" "Yeah," I sniffled, "Can you come get me?" "Yeah, sure baby girl, I'll be right there, where are you?" "I'm just down the road from Forks High School." "I'll be right there," he repeated and hung up. I sat down on a fallen tree and replayed the summer I first met Paul. I was 8 years old, Charlie, Bella and I were visiting Billy and Jacob. Whenever we were here, Bella and Jacob were attached at the hip.
Flashback
I picked up a rock and tossed it out at the water, hoping it would skip across the surface. But it bounced once and then sank. I bowed my head pouting, "Hey, none of that, now." I looked up in the tanned face and beautiful hazel eyes of a really cute boy who looked like he might be 12. "Hi, I'm Paul. You must be one of Chief Swan's daughters." I nodded and replied meekly, "Yes, I'm Adrian." "Well Adrian, let me show you how to skip that rock, even with the waves. How about that?" he asked. I nodded my head, "Yes, please."
We spent the whole afternoon, skipping rocks across the water, "Ha! I'm better than you!" I laughed, pointing at Paul. "That was just a lucky shot, A.J. Nothing but luck." He said. "A.J.?" I asked, confused, no one called me A.J. "Well, I was giving you a nickname, is that okay?" he asked. "Yeah, it just surprised me. I actually like A.J. it fits my name." He cocked his head, "Really? What's your middle name?" "It's Joanne." I said, shyly. I had never shared that with anyone. "Adrian Joanne, that's really pretty."
End of Flashback
We spent the rest of that afternoon, and the rest of my stay with my dad together on the beach. Paul became the older brother I never had. He was the first person, besides Bella, my mom and dad, that I told about what happened between Zac and I. He was furious naturally and threatened to come to Phoenix and kill Zac, but I told him that it wasn't necessary.
I hear tires heading my way and I look up to see Paul jumping out of his truck and running to me, scooping me into his arms. "Are you alright?" he asked, tilting my chin towards his face, looking deep into my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. "No you're not. You're crying, you never cry. What happened? Did someone hurt you?" I sighed, "No one hurt me Pauly, just chill out. I've just been dwelling on what happened with Zac, that's all. Bell's accidentally mentioned him the other night and I've been thinking about it ever since."
I could feel his frame start to shake, "Bella should know to keep her mouth shut about it. She knows what a bad experience it was for you." I reach up and touch his cheek, "Pauly, it's okay. I know she didn't mean to. It's not a big deal. Can we just go to First Beach, please?" He looked down in my eyes, setting me on the ground, "Sure, let's go." He led me to the truck, helping me in, then going to his side and getting in. He cranked the truck, put it in gear and headed towards La Push.
"So, you making any friends in Forks?" he asked, always wanting to know more about me. "Yeah actually, Emmett Cullen and his sister Alice." "Oh, that's nice." he replied pleasantly, but his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel gave away his anger. "Pauly, what's wrong with the Cullen's?" I asked, instantly curious. "Why are you asking that?" he asked, trying to avoid answering me. "Because when I mentioned them, you tightened your hands on the steering wheel, your knuckles were turning white. So don't avoid my question, what is wrong with the Cullen family?" I asked again, getting angry myself.
"The Cullen's aren't good company to keep A.J. Let's just leave it at that." he said, continuing to stare straight ahead. "No, we're not leaving it at that, Pauly. What the fuck is wrong with the Cullen family to make you hate them so?" His body started shaking again. He pulled the truck over, got out and ran into the woods. I got out too and began running after him, "Paul, you come back here! Damn it! GET BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN TO ME PAUL!" I saw him running a little ahead of me and I picked up speed, I easily got within 10 feet of him and said, "Stop! Now!" He just kept running and dove towards the ground, or at least that's what I thought he was doing. In mid-air he literally burst from his skin and became a humongous gray and white wolf.
My piercing scream echoed around the forest and I turned to run the other way. I was almost out of the trees when I heard Paul yell behind me, "A.J. wait! I can explain." I looked back to see a naked Paul running towards me. "I really hope you can, and could you do me a favor and find some clothes?" I said, averting my gaze. "Sorry, um, could you do me a favor and look behind the seat and grab a pair of shorts?" "Yeah, sure." I replied, stalking to the truck, opening the door, looking behind the seat and grabbing a pair of the shorts he had stashed back there."
I walked back to the woods to see Paul's head, peeking around a tree, "Here." I said, tossing the shorts to him. He disappeared behind the tree, reappearing with the shorts on. "Can we go to the beach and talk?" He asked, meekly. "Yes, I suppose." I said, and walked back to the truck. I climbed back in and watched as Paul did the same, buckling his seat belt, cranking the truck and continuing the short drive to the beach.
Five minutes later, we were seated on the edge of the lowest cliff, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks. Paul heaved a sigh and then started speaking, "I'm sorry if I scared you. I had a hard time controlling my temper before I was a wolf, now it's worse," he trailed off then said more to himself than me, "Where to start?" "How about the beginning? I asked. He looked at me, sadness in his eyes and a small, sad smile on his lips, "Yes, the beginning. It started a couple of years back when the Cullen's moved to town. Do you remember Sam Uley?" He looked over at me again, waiting for my reply. I thought back to my summers spent here and vaguely remembered a boy older than Paul, with the same dark hair, but brown eyes, I nodded.
"Well, he disappeared and no one knew what had happened to him. Leah Clearwater was going out of her mind crazy, she searched every day after school, well into the night. Sam was the love of her life. When he came back two weeks later, he was completely changed, he no longer looked 18, he looked like he was 25. He started walking around like he owned the town, he kept looking at Jared and I like he was expecting something from us. Not long after that, we found out why. I can remember the day I first phased like it was yesterday. It was the day that Sam left Leah for her cousin, Emily.
"Leah had come running to me crying. I was always jealous of Sam for being with Leah. She was the most beautiful girl on the reservation and I wanted her. I could see the love they had for each other and I knew it was hopeless. She came to me crying her eyes out, telling me what had happened in between sobs. I held onto her, trying to calm her down enough to get her to stop crying. She eventually fell asleep in my arms. I laid her down on my couch and left to go find Sam.
"He was on the beach talking to Emily, holding her hand, playing with her hair, kissing her cheek. I got so angry, seeing how quickly Sam had moved on. The next thing I knew, I was running to the woods, my body vibrating with anger, heat radiating under my skin, then I felt this weird sensation, as if the heat had moved straight to my spine. I had intended to let out a scream, but instead it came out as a howl and when I looked for my hands all I saw were gray paws.
"Then the strangest thing happened, I heard Sam's voice, in my head, 'Paul, everything is okay.' I whirled around to find a massive, black wolf stalking towards me. I immediately started backing away, not wanting to encroach on someone elses territory. Then I heard his voice again, 'Don't back away from me, Paul, I'm not going to hurt you.' He immediately started playing his memories of when he first phased in his head, the last being how he had finally figured out how to change back to human form. He had done it by thinking of Leah. This knowledge enraged me further, causing me to launch myself at him. He yelled mentally, 'STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE!' There was an edge to his voice and I couldn't help but obey.
"He then explained to me what was happening and why. He also explained why he left Leah for Emily and as bad as I hated to, I understood where he was coming from. He played the scene back for me and I couldn't argue that Emily was meant for him. While he still loved Leah, he had found his soul mate in Emily. It's called imprinting. I calmed down enough to phase back, the trick is to think about what you love most, which oddly enough, was you." He paused, looking over and nudging me with his shoulder, then continuing, "The reason we change into wolves is because the Cullen's are..." he trailed off. "Vampires, I know." I told him.
He stared at me open-mouthed, "You know? How did you find out?" "Well," I said shrugging, "Emmett kind of saved me from a bear yesterday. He had no choice but to tell me." Paul looked out at the ocean, an amused expression on his face. "He did? Maybe I could like him after all." I smile, but wipe it away quickly, scared of what I'm about to say, "He kissed me too," I say, seeing Paul's head snap toward me, I continue looking out at the ocean, "And well, I felt like I had found something I had been searching for, but I didn't know what it was. Pauly, I think I'm made for him."
I could feel Paul's frame shaking beside me, but then he took a deep breath and calmed himself down, "Did you tell him about Zac?" "Yes, this morning, that's the reason I was so upset. I hadn't meant to tell him, it just kind of spilled out and I couldn't stop it once it had started." "What was his reaction?" he asked, clearly curious. "He growled and looked like he was about to kill something, then by the time I finished telling him, he seemed to have calmed down. But I somehow don't think he did. His normal joking attitude never returned." I finished, shrugging again.
"I'm starting to like him more and more," Paul said, "Although, I don't like the way you feel about him. Who's to say he feels the same way?" "He does, Pauly, he told me so. I know he's telling the truth. You know me, I know when I'm being lied to." "As long as you're certain, I guess I can trust you." He said, putting his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him. "I just don't like my little sister dating a vampire. It makes my job of protecting you a whole lot harder." "Why do you have to protect me?" I asked.
"Because, the reason we are wolves is because of vampires. It's a long story, I'll have to tell you sometime, but I can tell you now, our sole reason for existence is to kill vampires, to protect humans." He said, bending down to kiss my hair, then looking at my phone, "Come on kiddo, let's get you home for dinner." He said, standing up, pulling me with him. We walked to the truck, climbed in, and he headed back to Forks.
A/N: So, who likes the addition of Paul? Tell me in a review, please!
*Bri
